A police officer and a community support officer have been sentenced after being convicted of misconduct following the vigilante murder of a disabled man.

Pc Kevin Duffy, 52, and PCSO Andrew Passmore, 56, were found guilty of misconduct in a public office in connection with the death of Bijan Ebrahimi in Bristol in 2013.

Pc Kevin Duffy has been jailed for 10 months at Bristol Crown Court for misconduct relating to the vigilante murder of Ebrahimi. While PCSO Andrew Passmore has been jailed for four months.

Ebrahimi, 44, was beaten to death and his body set on fire by neighbour Lee James, who wrongly believed he was a paedophile.

Bristol Crown Court heard Duffy saw Mr Ebrahimi as a liar and a nuisance despite a toxic situation at his home which called for pro-active policing. Duffy repeatedly refused to speak to the Iranian refugee, who had problems with mobility, in the days leading up to the murder.

Passmore was found to have lied by telling murder detectives that he had spent an hour patrolling around Ebrahimi’s home at the time. Avon and Somerset Police dismissed Duffy and Passmore following misconduct hearings in January.

The force said Duffy had brought ‘discredit to the constabulary’ and breached standards of professional behaviour in relation to his dealings with Mr Ebrahimi.

The judge said: ‘I cannot go behind the jury’s verdicts and it is with a heavy heart that in each of your cases I take the view that only a custodial sentence is appropriate.

‘It doesn’t seem to me a proper consequence of your wrongdoing that the sentences need be long. You have already suffered greatly. You have already lost your careers and in each of your cases there is genuine justification for mercy.

‘You must not bear the responsibilities for the wider failings in the police which were beyond your control.’

Members of Duffy’s and Passmore’s families gasped and exclaimed ‘Jesus Christ’ as the sentences were passed.

Ebrahimi’s sisters were also sat in the public gallery of court room one for the hearing. In a statement Avon and Somerset Police said: ‘Firstly, it is important to acknowledge that at the heart of this case is Bijan Ebrahimi’s family who have had to endure protracted legal and procedural processes. They have done this with the utmost dignity and composure.

‘Our sole aim is to fully understand the circumstances around Mr Ebrahimi’s treatment by our police officers and staff in the days leading up to his murder. We are at the beginning of a series of misconduct hearings and meetings involving 15 members of staff and officers.

‘It’s crucial that these disciplinary proceedings are allowed to progress to their final conclusion without prejudice now that the criminal case has come to an end.

‘As a consequence, we’re unable to comment any further to avoid any prejudice to the disciplinary matters.’

Bijan Ebrahimi was killed after being wrongly accused of child abuse (Picture: PA)

Jurors heard how Mr Ebrahimi dialled 999 to report that James had come into his flat and headbutted him on July 11. James wrongly believed that Mr Ebrahimi had filmed his young children. He had actually been gathering evidence of anti-social behaviour. Police arrived at the scene, Capgrave Crescent in Brislington, to find James crying with anger and frothing at the mouth.

A mob had formed outside and James was heard shouting: ‘Paedo! I’m going to f** kill you.’

Mr Ebrahimi was arrested for allegedly breaching the peace. As he was led away, the crowd cheered and shouted ‘paedophile’. He was released from custody the following day, July 12, and made 12 calls to police non-emergency number 101.

Mr Ebrahimi was informed that Duffy, his local beat manager, would visit but the officer refused to speak to him. ‘My life is in danger. Right now a few of my neighbours are outside and shouting and calling me a paedophile. I need to see Pc Duffy,’ Mr Ebrahimi told one operator.

Duffy told a supervisor: ‘He should be told in no uncertain terms that I will speak to him at my convenience, it’s Mr Bijan Ebrahimi he’s well known to me and I won’t be taking any calls from him.’

He asked Passmore to conduct a ‘bit of a foot patrol’ around Capgrave Crescent.

On July 13, Mr Ebrahimi tried to contact Duffy and a colleague, Pc Leanne Winter. He phoned police at 00.14am on July 14 – about an hour before his murder.

Witnesses saw James repeatedly stamp on Mr Ebrahimi’s head before setting him alight at 1.35am with neighbour Stephen Norley.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Ebrahimi, who suffered from depression, died before he was set alight. James was jailed for life for the murder, while Norley was sentenced to four years in prison for assisting an offender.

Duffy and Passmore were two of 18 officers and staff facing misconduct proceedings within the force. The IPCC is expected to publish its investigation findings into Mr Ebrahimi’s death at the conclusion of all disciplinary proceedings.